In my years as a PhD researcher at Oak Ridge National lab, I had to study the limits of the R-process, i.e. the stability of heaviest isotopes and elements in nature, which can be generated by R-process.The study was done by me and by using the most powerful supercomputer in the world at that time, "Jaguar" at Oak Ridge National laboratory.

The results showed, that at certain atomic masses limits, R-process competes with the spontaneous nuclear fission, which acts like a break for the thermonuclear synthesis. In my talk, we will dive into the extreme conditions where nuclear fusion and nuclear fission compete head-to-head each other during supernova events and neutron star (black hole) binaries.What determines the isotope stability against nuclear fission are the quantum mechanical effects inside nuclei.

The Quantum Mechanics of atoms, protons, and neutrons is the major player into these large-scale cosmic catastrophic events.